Rick Perry has one prominent Republican critic with a national television platform.

Joe Scarborough, the former Florida Republican congressman and current co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” TV show, attempted a Texas accent this morning as he riffed on the Texas governor and new GOP presidential frontrunner.

Having dubbed Perry a “dime store conservative” a few weeks ago, Scarborough today lumped Perry, a former Democratic state representative, in with a bevvy of Southern Democrats who had joined the GOP just to keep power.

“This guy runs Al Gore’s (Texas) campaign (for president in 1988) and then he writes a letter to Hillary Clinton in 1993 (about health care) — a love letter, ‘I’m behind you Hillary, I’m behind you Hillary’” he said.

“He’s not a real conservative,” Scarborough railed.

The Floridians faux Texas accent kicked in when he imitated Perry: “Small gummit. Tea Party. You know what, doggone it, let’s secede from the Union. And Social Security’s a Ponzi scheme. Let’s shut down FEMA.”

“This is so rich,” Scarborough chuckled.

“You go across the Southeast and there are dime store conservatives from Texas down to South Florida,” he said. “Whoever’s in power at the time, they’re the ones right out front.”

Scarborough predicted that Perry will do “whatever it takes to get elected” but would be a “big-government conservative,” like George W. Bush, if he won the presidency.